It’s been a largely quiet week since we returned from Lyon. Our major news is that work has started on our new terrace / driveway. Originally, it was only going to be a terrace, but I’ve always wanted to do something about our dirt driveway, so we decided to do them both at the same time. Of course, the cost doubled too, but our friend Benoit is doing the work and I’m certain we’re getting an excellent deal.
He and Eva came over first thing on Wed with a mini-digger and started preparing the grounds. This was mainly digging up the earth where the terrace will go, and using it to level off the driveway and surrounding areas. Benoit was surprised at just how many bamboo roots there were, and Eva used them to create us a nice sculpture that looks like a Dalek (from Dr. Who). It turned overcast and rained a bit on Thursday, but that didn’t deter Benoit from finishing up the preparation work. He also had a load of sand and cement delivered.
The weather was cool and overcast on Friday, but has since improved dramatically, hitting a high of 31C today. We’re due a few days of cloud and then more sun, which Will is very happy about. There’s not much left in the garden, except our special plants, who are also enjoying the warm weather and are flowering in earnest now. The cats haven’t taken too kindly to having their territory disturbed, but we’ve assured them that it’s for the best.
Work is very slow for us both. Will heard back from a client today, which should mean that project will soon be back on track. It’s for the owners of the luxury apartments which are housed in an ancient mill. The have to shell out a huge wad of cash to repair a dam that’s on their property, but now that it’s moving forward, they will have for us. I’ve got our new server up and running smoothly now, so I’ve been migrating a few sites over every day.
We had one social event on Saturday when we had dinner at Manu and Mathilde’s. They wanted to have Marie and Christian over, so we had the two of them to ours for a pre-apero apero, and then carpooled to M & M’s. We had drinks outside for an hour before the sun went down and then continued inside. Manu made chicken in mole sauce, one of Will’s absolute favourites, and it was better than the one I recently had in the States. He made it with cacao beans that Philippe had brought back from Martinique so perhaps that’s what made the difference. It was served with rice, and Mathilde made a lovely chocolate mousse for dessert. The two couples get along really well, which doesn’t happen often enough in these parts. We stayed until sometime after midnight and then headed home.
Christian came over the next afternoon and we had our first rehearsal in a few months. It went mostly fine, and we should be back where we left off after another few run-throughs. We’ve added a couple of new songs to our repertoire just to keep things interesting. This weekend was also the start of wood-moving season. Our neighbour Martine had arranged our annual wood delivery, which normally takes a few weeks. But the man rang on Sat morning and she rang us around 9 to let us know. We still had last year’s wood to move in, so that’s how we spent our morning. The new wood is now in it’s place, although still requires stacking.
We’ve also ordered wood from Lucien this year, to replace that we normally get from the local farmer. He stopped by yesterday to discuss it (again) since he wants to get it done before the rainy season. But with the works on the front of the house, he won’t be able to use the drive. He can go through the neighbouring field if necessary, but I suggested we wait for a few days. I put my back out yesterday moving two gas bottles to the car, so I’m in no rush to do more lifting any time soon.
Lucien also noticed that our phone line had come down. I saw it last week after Benoit was removing branches from the trees over the road to make room for the large delivery lorries. Lucien offered to get his ladder and fix it, but I told him I would speak to Benoit first. He showed up today with a small forklift to move the cement and today’s delivery of stones from the front of the house. After that was done, we got a pallet and placed it over the forklift tines. I sat on that and he rode me up to the top of the phone pole where I used a bungee cord to attach the line to it. This was my first forklift ride, and I hope it will be my last.